epiclesis

Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. The part of the Catholic Mass and Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy in which the celebrant invokes the Holy Spirit to change the bread and wine on the altar into the body and blood of Jesus. Said at the beginning of the offeratory prayers in the Catholic Mass and at the end of the aforementioned in the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

n. In liturgics, that part of the prayer of consecration, as found in many liturgies, in which, after the institution and great oblation (or in some forms after the institution but before the oblation), God is called upon to send down the Holy Spirit upon the worshipers and upon the sacramental gifts. Also epiklesis.

Etymologies

Ancient Greek (Wiktionary)

Examples

The Eastern Christian argument that the epiclesis is the decisive moment of consecration is relatively new, dating to the counter-reformation, and represents nothing except a reflexive mirroring of the Latin position regarding the InstitutionOrthodox Church.

He also wrote a slim book on the Blessed Sacrament, God's Good Cheer, a collection of theological essays, Where Believers May Doubt, and another collection of similar essays, Frontiers of Faith and Reason, which covers a variety of topics from the origin of the epiclesis to a plea for the re-introduction of the Sarum Rites of Betrothal and Marriage.

I believe we should also find opportunities in catechesis, in homilies and in other circumstances to explain this Eucharistic Prayer well to the People of God so that they can follow the important moments -- the account and the words of the Institution, the prayer for the living and the dead, the thanksgiving to the Lord and the epiclesis -- if the community is truly to be involved in this prayer.